Hidden Sanctuary
by OxVanillaPeachesxO
Summary: Tsk tsk tsk, Deidara has decided that he's gonna leave the Akatsuki, but there's a dark secret lying under his reasons, and it has something to do with poor Shizuko...DeidaraOC


**Me: I feel like writing a somber story about the Akatsuki (mainly Deidara and my new OC Shizuko...^^I think I like her name the most...) Enjoy, or don't enjoy, it is not my choice, so...um, read it and choose your opinion! =]**

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She stared at him over her bowl of steaming ramen noodles and couldn't help but let one of her perfectly-arched eyebrows raise ever so slightly.

"Deidara, are you serious?" she finally asked after a long passage of silence, and set the empty ramen noodle bowl down on the table. The blonde wasn't looking at her, instead admiring a new clay sculpture of a peculiar dragon. Shizuko couldn't help but glance over it quickly before directing her full attention back to her best friend. Deidara wasn't his normal self that day; in fact, Shizuko still had second thoughts about coming with him to the ramen shop.

"What do you think, un?" the bomb artist replied with an angry tone, and Shizuko frowned slightly. Did she say something wrong? The last time she had checked, all she asked was a simple question. But then again, Shizuko wasn't ever entirely sure about many things; she couldn't help that, really.

"Well...it's just..." The silver-and-cobalt haired girl paused to order another bowl of ramen noodles before continuing. "It's extremely dangerous to try and risk that, Deidara. You probably won't make it through the Land of Shadowed Cliffs before rogue ninja attack; trust me, I've been in that situation."

Deidara just snorted and stood up slowly. Shizuko looked up and another frown contorted her features when her best friend cast his endless emotionless gaze in the direction of their-in Deidara's case, temporary- home, the infamous Akatsuki base. It was a signal that he was getting tired of being around the common villagers, with the small children's whines to their tired parents. Shizuko was beginning to share the blonde's opinion as a particularly loud child screamed at his exhausted-looking mother, who was rocking a crying newborn to her chest.

"Get real, Shizuko, un. Remember I'm in the Akatsuki-or, _was," _Deidara responded while sending a dangerous glare to a little girl brandishing a vividly-colored, swirly lollipop, the type that were usually found in cheap carnivals on the outskirts of towns, who bumped into him. Shizuko automatically clamped her hand around his left forearm and began hurriedly dragging the bomb artist away, not wishing to make a big scene; Deidara would surely blow the innocent little girl to kingdom come in a split decision.

As soon as she had secluded him on an isolated road in the woods, Shizuko let go of Deidara and released a heavy sigh, one that Deidara would have to be at least a decade year older to even begin to comprehend.

"Deidara...please, why do you want to leave? You know Leader-sama could find you in a heartbeat, if it came down to it; in fact, he'll send someone immediately as soon as he finds out you're gone!" the shy girl protested and put her hands on her hips. Her best friend had been rambling constantly on about "escaping Pein's hold" "leaving this stupid base", yada yada yada. Everyone except Shizuko had grown immensely sick of the blonde's whining, though now the girl was having more second thoughts.

The aforementioned (I just adore that word...) bomb artist's expression went from furious to crestfallen in a heartbeat, and Shizuko felt a string of guilt tugging at her heart. But as quick as Deidara's face contorted, it changed back into a glare, directed towards Shizuko.

"Pein-sama won't find me, because he won't find out, un," the blonde threatened, though Shizuko already knew it was nothing but hot air. After all, Deidara was still her best friend, whether he enjoyed it or not, and they had an oath that they would never hurt each other, emotionally, physically, or psychologically.

Shizuko was silent as they continued on the path to home, and she couldn't help thinking that this would be Deidara's last time in doing so. In her defense, she couldn't see why putting up with the Akatsuki was so difficult; sure, Hidan and Kisame still gave the bomb artist crap about his "secret obsession" with Shizuko and whatnot, and Sasori wouldn't let up with his bickering about "true art". Sure, the mixed-haired girl found it irritating sometimes, but otherwise, life wasn't too bad in the Akatsuki. Especially getting to share a room with Itachi-Shizuko found immense pleasure in bringing out Itachi's soft side for her.

Even without all the goods and the bads, Shizuko and Deidara found hidden sanctuaries in each others company, away from the ever-growing chaos of the Akatsuki. Everytime one of them got back from a mission, important or not, the two friends would always go on picnics to random places around the base, and Shizuko really enjoyed flights on Deidara's clay birds.

"Deidara-kun," Shizuko finally said after quite a long period of silence, and she knew the blonde's interest would peek up because she had added the suffix. He turned his head slightly to show that he had acknowlegded the girl, and she relented on. "I...I don't want you to leave me; you promised!"

Deidara mimicked Shizuko's earlier sigh and stopped suddenly, to which Shizuko nearly ran into him. The bomb artist swiveled around hastily and placed two hands on Shizuko's bare shoulders, and she had to hold in a Tobi-like giggle when his hand mouths licked her. Everyone who ever knew Shizuko had to know that her one weakness was tickling, though Deidara found it slightly...adorable.

"Shizuko-chan." The cobalt-and-silver-haired teenager let a sly grin play along her lips when his words reached her ears. "I'll never break my promises, not as long as you're alive. But I can't stay with the Akatsuki; they're killing me from the inside, and I think Sasori-danna is still out to get me for befriending his baby sister, un..."

Shizuko let out a delicate laugh that swirled up an odd concoction in Deidara's stomach, and she put a soft hand on his cheek. "Deidara-kun...I promised I wouldn't let Sasori hurt you, didn't I?"

But then the girl got serious again, "But if the Akatsuki are killing you, why don't you just ignore them? I mean, it's not easy to ignore Tobi sometimes...but the rest of them are pretty easy to tune out; just give Hidan some sort of sacrifice for 'Jashin' and he'll back off."

The gender-mistaken blonde shook his head and pulled Shizuko a bit closer to him, to which she responded by almost-successfully hiding a deep rosy blush that was powdered on her cheeks. Shizuko found that if she had close contact with this boy, this boy who was her best friend, she tended to have a nervous feeling deep in her stomach, along with a heavy blush that possibly added color to her pale cheeks.

"It's not them, Shizuko-chan...it's you, un."

Shizuko's jaw slammed onto the road in an instant and her eyes widened to the size of Hercules's biceps on steroids. _'It's...my...fault...that Deidara-kun is leaving? But...what did I do?'_

"Do you know how hard it is to watch you and Itachi-san sleep in the same room every night? Without anyone else knowing what you two are doing? Yes, I know I'm your best friend, but dammit Shizuko, it kills me not being the one you talk to about your problems! Why can't you understand that I'm in love with you, Shizuko?"

The first thing that popped into Shizuko's head was: _'Huh, how did Deidara-kun manage to keep the "un" sound out of his voice?' _But then staidness returned to her senses and she let out a quiet, almost silent, gasp. Deidara...was...in love with her? That certainly changed just about **_EVERYTHING._**

"Deidara-kun...Itachi is only a friend to me, nothing more. You are...you are everything to me, Deidara, everything; without you, I would'nt have found my brother, I would still probably be my former emo self, and...I wouldn't be in love. Deidara, I love you more than I love Sasori...I know this is cheesy, but--"

Suddenly, Deidara's lips crashed into hers with hunger and desperation, and Shizuko's eyes blew up to mass size; it took her brain a moment to register what was happening, and by the time it did, the bomb artist who had purposely stolen her heart had pulled away. Shizuko was still in frozen shock, not moving and barely breathing in shallow breaths. Deidara had a slight smirk on his mischievious face as he put a finger under Shizuko's chin and titled her head up.

"Mmm...this is different, Shizuko-chan. Wait till Sasori-danna finds out about this...you'll _want _me to leave the Akatsuki..." Shizuko hastily wrapped her arms around her best friend's neck and pulled him even closer.

"I gave you a promise that I wouldn't let Sasori hurt you, didn't I, Deidara-kun?" And another kiss was shared between the two, and Shizuko's thoughts were somewhat along:

_'I wonder how much Kakuzu bet on us being together...hn, guess it doesn't matter...'_

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**Me: Mhm, a little rushed in my oh-so-corny opinion. ^^ But if you liked it, I shall give everyone who has good advice a...C3 bomb! Perfect for destorying your arch-enemy house, the VanillaPeaches C3 bomb is your best friend, yuk yuk yuk!**

**...R&R...**

**-Peachuz =3**

**P.S. Happy New Year's everyone!**


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